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August 7, 2013

New Hire Roundup: FINRA Names Keenan, Weddle New Board Members

Anne Larson and Erin Rich take new positions at Wells Fargo; Hedge Fund Association adds to its HNW board; more

This week in new hires, FINRA announced elections and appointments to its board of governors; Anne Larson and Erin Rich moved to new positions at Wells Fargo; Hatteras Funds named Michael Hutten and Robert Brown to new positions; Gene Tannenbaum was named managing director of Lincoln Financial Advisors Corp.; Eugene Miller joined Westport Resources; Citi Private Bank added Blair Ege and Ryan McCleary; and U.S. Bank's Ascent Private Capital welcomed Sisi Tran, Stephen Florance and Tom Crotty to posts in San Francisco.

Also, Michael Mahoney and Thomasin Bentley joined Clearbrook Global Advisors; Gemini Fund Services welcomed Kyle Thorberg and transferred Skyler Steinke; Michael Hines joined Concord Wealth Management; American Century Investments promoted Chris Krantz and Jeff Bourke; the Hedge Fund Association announced an addition to its high-net-worth board and changes to the leadership of its LatAm chapter; and Frederick Buffone became head of capital markets at Fifth Street Management.

FINRA Board of Governors Elections Held

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) announced voting results for its board of governors. Robert Keenan, chief executive officer of St. Bernard Financial Services, was elected small firm governor; James Weddle, managing partner at Edward Jones, was elected large firm governor; and Shelly Lazarus, former chairman and CEO of Ogilvy & Mather, was named as a public governor, replacing Shirley Jackson, who had served on the Board since FINRA's inception in 2007.

Governors are appointed or elected to three-year terms and may not serve more than two consecutive terms. Weddle was originally elected in 2010 and has served as the large firm governor for the past three years.

In addition, four governors were recently reappointed. John Brennan of the Vanguard Group, Inc. was reappointed as investment company affiliate, while reappointed public governors were William Heyman of the Travelers Companies, Inc.; John Schmidlin, retired; and Gary Stern, former president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis.

Wells Fargo Advisors Advances Anne Larson and Erin Rich

Wells Fargo Advisors has named Anne Larson as director of client acquisition and Erin Rich as director of client experience. Both leadership roles are newly created positions. Larson will focus on developing practical growth strategies, training and other programs that can be used by leaders and financial advisors across the firm to enhance their ability to bring more new clients to the firm. Rich will work with other brokerage firm leaders to help ensure that all clients experience the same high level of service and advice at all of the firm’s locations and through all of its business channels.

Larson brings more than 20 years of hands-on marketing and sales experience in financial services. Most recently, she served for seven years as head of marketing for Wells Fargo Merchant Services. Earlier, she was with Charles Schwab, where she led 30 branches and 100 financial consultants as regional vice president of sales.

Rich brings more than 18 years of experience with Wells Fargo, with extensive background in leading customer experience, marketing and strategic initiatives.

Hatteras Funds Appoints Hutten, Brown

Hatteras Funds announced Monday that Michael Hutten has been named president of distribution and Robert Brown has been named managing director of strategic relationships.

Hutten, who originally joined Hatteras in August of 2006 as a regional director for the west, has a broad understanding of alternative investments and brings over 20 years of financial services industry experience to the role. Previously, he held various sales and management roles at JPMorgan Asset Management, Santa Barbara Alpha Strategies, Robertson Stephens and Montgomery Partners, the alternative investment division of Montgomery Asset Management.

Brown, with more than 15 years of alternative investment industry experience, as well as extensive knowledge of the institutional marketplace and client-focused product development, previously held various positions within the firm, including head of sales and marketing, regional sales, sales management, national accounts, and marketing management. Before joining in 2004, he was vice president of alternative strategies at Highland Associates, where he performed alternative investment strategy research, alternative investment manager search and due diligence and client education.

Lincoln Financial Network Appoints Gene Tannenbaum Managing Director

Lincoln Financial Network (LFN), the retail private client business of Lincoln Financial Group, announced Monday that Gene Tannenbaum has been appointed managing director of Lincoln Financial Advisors Corp. (LFA), with responsibility for leading the metro N.Y./N.J. regional planning group. In this role, he will manage the Long Island, N.J. and N.Y. regional planning offices responsible for recruiting and retaining advisors and driving sales growth and overall strategy execution for the region. He will be based in Rye Brook, N.Y., and report to John DiMonda, senior vice president, head of Lincoln Financial Advisors.

Tannenbaum joins from Woodbury Financial Services, where he served from 2005 to 2013 as a regional vice president for the northeast region, based in Poughquag, N.Y. Earlier, he held the role of general agent with the Guardian Life Insurance Company of America in Garden City, N.Y. Prior to that, he was field manager at Prudential Insurance and Prudential Financial Services from 1991 to 1999.

Westport Resources Welcomes Eugene Miller

Westport Resources welcomed Eugene Miller as director of family office services, a new position within the firm that serves ultra-high-net-worth individuals and families.

Miller comes from Citi Private Bank, which he joined in February of 2012 and where he was director and UHNW private banker. Prior to that, he served as president of Galaxy Family Resources in Greenwich, Conn., which he joined in 2008. Earlier, he was SVP and wealth management strategist at Genspring Family Offices, where he advised clients on asset management strategies as well as provided assistance with intellectual capital matters, family governance, philanthropy and other services.

Citi Private Bank Adds Blair Ege, Ryan McCleary

Citi Private Bank announced Monday that Blair Ege has joined the firm’s Washington, D.C., office as director and UHNW private banker, and Ryan McCleary has joined the Houston office with the same title. Ege will report to Barbara McCollum, mid-Atlantic regional market manager, and McCleary reports to Russ Labrasca, Houston regional executive.

Ege joins from BNY Mellon in Washington, D.C., where she spent seven years as a senior director. Earlier, she was a managing director at Babson Capital Management LLC. She began with Babson’s parent company, MassMutual Financial Group, in 1990 as a branch manager. Berore that, she was a financial advisor with Merrill Lynch for five years, also holding roles as manager of trust services, retirement plans and insurance.

McCleary joins from Atlantic Trust Private Wealth Management, where he was most recently a SVP and senior relationship manager, as well as a member of the asset allocation committee. He started his career in 1997 as an equity analyst at Beutel Goodman Capital Management.

U.S. Bank's Ascent Private Capital Names Three in San Francisco

Ascent Private Capital Management of U.S. Bank has added three new appointments in San Francisco. Sisi Tran, who has been named director of wealth strategy, is responsible for advising families on a variety of wealth planning matters. Stephen Florance, named managing director, investment consulting, is responsible for working with clients to help create customized investment portfolios tailored to their unique objectives. Tom Crotty, named managing director of financial administration, is responsible for risk management, customized reporting, information management coordination, financial administration, and tax reporting coordination.

Previously Tran served as director of trust and estate planning with Convergent Wealth Advisors in Los Angeles; Florance was a managing director with Hall Capital Partners LLC, where he held multiple roles with responsibility for managing portfolios and conducting research; and Crotty was president of Montgomery Professionals, a San Francisco Bay area accounting and staffing firm.

Clearbrook Global Advisors Adds Two

Clearbrook Global Advisors announced Wednesday the addition of Michael Mahoney and Thomasin Bentley. Mahoney has joined the firm as managing director of business development, and Thomasin Bentley was appointed director of marketing responsible for coordinating marketing efforts in the institutional space.

Mahoney, an industry veteran with over 30 years of experience in investment and advisory roles for institutions, pensions, non-for-profit, foundations and endowments, previously was SVP at Pyramis Global Advisors, responsible for business development and client service for Taft-Hartley clients. Earlier, he was regional VP at ULLICO Inc., responsible for investor relations and business development for the east coast. He began his career as a financial advisor at Kidder Peabody and Co.

Bentley brings over 17 years of experience in all areas of brand, strategic marketing, business and partnership development for institutional and asset management firms. Before joining, she was director of new business development and media sales at New York Road Runners, a New York-based nonprofit organization. Formerly, she was VP and director of institutional marketing at Hartford Investment Management Company. Prior to that, she spent eight-years at Credit Suisse Asset Management. She began her career at John Hancock Funds in 1996.

Gemini Adds Thorberg, Moves Steinke

Gemini Fund Services, LLC announced that it has expanded its sales team with the addition of Kyle Thorberg as an internal wholesaler. He is based in Omaha, Neb., and reports to Eddie Lund, VP of business development. In this role, Thorberg is responsible for qualifying leads for the sales team, and was most recently an account manager at Gemini’s sister company, Orion Advisor Services, LLC. Prior to that, he spent eight years as a seller risk senior agent at PayPal.

The firm has also transitioned Skyler Steinke, formerly an internal wholesaler, to a new role as AVP of business development overseeing the southern region. Together with Jace Schuppan, who oversees the northeastern region, and Chris Walker, who oversees the western region, he will be responsible for engaging with prospects procured by Thorberg, and consulting with them about launching their funds.

As part of the sales team expansion, Thorberg will use his Salesforce.com proficiency to customize the enterprise cloud computing platform’s sales and customer relationship management applications; Steinke will continue to grow the firm’s social media presence; Schuppan will search for new business opportunities in external mutual fund trusts and Walker is in charge of expanding current partner relationships and developing new relationships.

Concord Wealth Management Welcomes Michael Hines

Concord Wealth Management, the Boston agency of the Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company, announced that Michael Hines has joined the firm as a financial advisor. In addition to providing comprehensive financial solutions to individuals, families and small business owners, he will support the agency’s recruiting efforts in the New England area, specifically Massachusetts, Maineand and Rhode Island.

Prior to joining, Hines was an advisor with New York Life for over 30 years.

American Century Investments Promotes Krantz, Bourke

American Century Investments has promoted two senior investment analysts to portfolio manager positions on the team managing the firm’s U.S. large-cap quality growth (select) and U.S. large-cap premier growth (ultra and VP ultra) strategies. Both promotions were effective August 1.

Chris Krantz has been promoted to portfolio manager on U.S.large-cap quality growth. Along with his portfolio manager duties, he maintains his analytical responsibilities covering the consumer discretionary, consumer staples and utilities sectors on both the U.S. large-cap quality and U.S .large-cap premier growth strategies. Krantz joined in 2006, and previously worked as a manager at Standard & Poor’s corporate value consulting.

Jeff Bourke has been promoted to portfolio manager on U.S. large-cap premier growth. Along with his portfolio manager duties, he maintains his analytical responsibilities covering the industrials and materials sectors on both the U.S. large-cap quality and U.S. large-cap premier growth strategies. Bourke joined in 2007 from Robert W. Baird & Co., where he was an industrials analyst.

Hedge Fund Association Adds Grove, Garrido and Baquiran

The Hedge Fund Association announced Tuesday the appointment of Hannah Shaw Grove to its HNW advisory board, after it had announced Monday the appointment of Juan Garrido and Les Baquiran as codirectors of its LatAm chapter, succeeding Victor Hugo Rodriguez, the first director of the chapter.

Hannah Shaw Grove is one of the world's leading authorities on the HNW population and how they think. Her reputation was built on more than 20 years of hands-on work and primary research with wealthy families and their trusted advisors. Together with April Rudin, chair of the HFA's HNW advisory board and CEO of wealth marketing firm Rudin Group, Grove will host the first in a series of actionable programs designed to help hedge fund managers maximize growth opportunities with HNW investors.

Garrido, global head of investment solutions at BBVA Global Private Bank in New York, has almost two decades of market experience and a sound understanding of asset and wealth management, financial products and services, and infrastructure.

Les Baquiran was a New York-based principal at Park Hill, an alternative investment placement agent that is part of the Blackstone Group. Prior to joining Park Hill, he was a managing director at ISI in institutional sales, and before that worked at Brown Brothers Harriman as an equity research analyst.

Buffone to Head Capital Markets at Fifth Street Management LLC

Fifth Street Management LLC announced Tuesday that Frederick Buffone has joined the company as a managing director and head of capital markets. Buffone is responsible for middle market syndications and club transactions on behalf of Fifth Street Finance Corp. (FSC) and Fifth Street Senior Floating Rate Corp. (FSFR), both business development companies (BDC).

Buffone has over 20 years of experience in capital markets, principally focused on loan sales and syndications. Most recently, he served as director of debt capital markets and syndications at TD Securities (USA) LLC. Prior to that, he held similar roles at Jefferies & Company from 2004 to 2009 and CIBC World Markets from 2000 to 2004.

Fifth Street also announced that it recently became the investment advisor to its second BDC, FSFR, following its $100 million initial public offering in mid-July. FSFR will focus on senior floating rate transactions in the upper middle market in companies with EBITDA between $20 million and $100 million.